When I stepped out of my fairly sheltered academic environment to the climate protest in the streets, something struck me: the enormous passivity and moral emptiness of what we have come to call ‘leaders’ in this country. This contrasted sharply with the courage and leadership of young people I met at Extinction Rebellion NL. My friend Sebastiaan Vannisselroy is one such courageous young person. Right now, on a long bike ride to India, he is passing numerous borders that he can cross with relative ease. For him, that is no reason to celebrate the privilege of a Dutch passport; he is cycling to show how unjust and deadly borders are for so many others.
Last week, Sebastiaan was at No Name Kitchen in Bosnia. EU-backed pushbacks of migrants – where shoes are taken off and people are badly mistreated – are commonplace there. No Name Kitchen provides them with basic necessities such as new shoes. Please support their fundraiser.
And follow and support Sebastiaan on his long physical, emotional and intellectual journey. All donations go to No Name Kitchen or to MiGreat, an organisation that denounces violent border policies in Europe.
At a time when callousness and inhumanity are celebrated as virtues, we cannot rely on our ‘leaders’. We will have to stand up for humanity ourselves – in word and (financial) deed.